WWIII In The Clouds?
by MidnightNimh
Summary: Cloud has survived WWIII with a few of his 'buddies.' Some of the AVALANCHE members, but some are just friends. How will Cloud handle the wasteland this Earth has been turned into? The ultimate question, will it be answered?: "Why do I fight?"


AN: So, there will be an OC (or two) thrown in (when they're thrown in I'll put a * by their names, so you don't go, "I didn't know ... Was a FF character!"), just so that I can have some extra characters to work with.

(FF13 or FFX-2 characters might show up later in the story... (I'm not sure yet... ) but for now, It will be in the FF7 category..)

This story is written for a challenge on the Forum: Writing Junkie. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.

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><p>It hadn't always been like this, drones didn't always block out the sky, there wasn't always skeletons, bones and rotting flesh in every direction, society wasn't always survival of the fittest, at least, not in this sense. People hadn't always fought over every ration of food, water hadn't always been just a luxury, and people's lives weren't always measured by how many people you would kill for food in a day. There was once peace, and happiness and joy. There was once freedom, and luxuries. There was once room for hopes, plans, ideals, careers, and dreams. But in this world,<em> this world<em>, there was no room for such nonsense. Each day was how much food could you scrape up, and were you going to pass out from dehydration or could you wait another day? Were you willing to fight for your life, or were you going to mozzy on down into the dust and let your body rot away? Humanity was at it's breaking point, heck, it was thrown over the cliff, there was no going back. This period in time would make, or break humanity, well, what was left of it.

Only the strongest lived. Only the most motivated did anything. Only the most daring tried to think for themselves. Only the liveliest would wake up and try to raise morale. Only the best would fight against the government, the military and the drones. There was very, very little rebellion, most people were too weak to fight for their food, let alone stand up to a better fed guard. Now, don't get me wrong, this supposed government, (the guards and the headquarters) weren't horrible, they weren't going to come take away your house, and foreclose on you, there was nothing to take away! The only thing they did, was keep everything in order. (It was rumored that most animals were in rehabilitation areas in the government to keep them from going extinct.) But the government's only control was to keep the people from eating all the food that was left, and drinking all the water that was left. Other than that, they really didn't care much, the guards though made up rules, they put them in place for their own personal gain, and safety. Of course, the civilians didn't know it was all the military's doing, they all blamed the government.

The dry ground was cracked, and not a single green plant would be found for miles, not a drop of rain would fall from the sky, and if it did, you'd better find shelter quick... before you know it the acid would be burning your skin. All the disaster of industry and it's collapse ruined the Earth, decapitated it to this ruin. The son shone to brightly, the nights far to cold. The summers scolding hot, the winters deadly freezes. There was no safety, there was no comfort, there was fight or die, there was survive or give up. The world could slightly hold itself together with the self-destructive industry, but once WWIII broke out, it was hell for everyone. There was fighting everywhere. One night you'd be cozily sleeping in your bed, the next morning you'd be watching your house burn down at gun point. Every person had to fight for their freedom, enemy territories were everywhere. There was no escape, there was no safe spot.

China had decided the United States needed to pay up, but the U.S didn't have that money.. This started WWIII... each country now chose a side, or fought off both sides. But there was no country, mark my words, no country that was not involved. Even Canada and Alaska partook in this war.. The United States tried nuclear bombs, but it all back-fired, there was too much after-effects that weren't calculated. Each country were afraid of the damage those weapons could cause, and decided the nuclear weapons couldn't be used. After a massive EMP destroyed every electronic device, there wasn't much hope for a bright future. Everything depended on technology, everything. Really, it was 2065, paper practically didn't exist. Anyways, soon food shortages started, there was no rain. Eventually, everyone was savage, and each building was destroyed. The human race was reverted back to the stone age..

_Why does this always happen? Cloud asked himself as he fought off a barrage of guards, there was some goal, something he wanted to accomplish but he couldn't figure it out. There was some reason he kept moving forward. He swung his massive sword, cutting up each person that came near. There was blood everywhere, nostrils were filled with dust and the odor of sweat. Cloud himself had a massive wound in his side, but still he pushed forward. There was something ahead that he was willing to risk his life for.. Why do I fight? He had just killed, mutilated, destroyed, murdered the last guard standing __in his way, he fell to the ground. Cloud could almost see what it was he had fought for. Cloud fell to his knees, blood was seeping from his wound, his shirt was covered in blood and if you pulled on his shirt, it would have stuck to his wound. Cloud couldn't muster the strength to stand up, so he began to crook his head up, and that's when he was hit in the head with a massive sword. Everything went black, he was falling, falling into an abyss.  
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